The Stress - Strain Curve

Ductile Material Materials that are capable of undergoing large strains

(at normal temperature) before failure. Ductile materials are also capable
of absorbing large amounts of energy prior to failure. Ductile materials
include mild steel, aluminum and some of its alloys, copper, magnesium,
nickel, brass, bronze and many others.
Brittle Material Materials that exhibit very little inelastic deformation.
In other words, materials that fail in tension at relatively low values of
strain are considered brittle. Brittle materials include concrete, stone, cast
iron, glass and plaster.
Failure Modes:
Brittle materials fail due to tensile (normal) stresses and rupture occurs
along a surface perpendicular to the load.
Ductile materials usually fail on planes that correspond to the maximum
shear stresses (45). A cup and cone failure is typical for ductile materials
with the sides of cup and cone inclined at approximately 45 to the
specimen axis.

Elastic & Plastic Deformation

[a] Compounds with stronger bonds have a higher elastic modulus (stiffness)
than weak bonded compounds.
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The Stress Strain Curve for a ductile material.

In the early (low strain) portion of the curve, the materials obey Hookes
law to a reasonable approximation, so that stress is proportional to strain
with the constant of proportionality being the modulus of elasticity or
Youngs modulus, denoted by E.
e = E*e
In this region, during elastic deformation the atoms bonding stretch a
little, and when the tension is removed, all get back to the original
position. This is supported by the fact that the Elastic Modulus depends
mostly on the chemical bonding [a].
As strain is increased, many materials eventually deviate from this linear
proportionality, the point of departure being termed the proportional limit.

However, if we continue to apply the stress and the crystal is ductile, it

will have to deform plastically, in which it will have a permanent
deformation. The tension at which this deformation starts is the Yield
Strength, (The yield stress, denoted Y, is the stress needed to induce
plastic deformation in the specimen)
After the upper yield point is reached there is a marked fall in stress to the
lower yield point. This is because this is the first instance when the
dislocations move and facilitate plastic deformation.
After the lower yield point, there is a stress-induced plastic flow with in
the specimen. Here the material is undergoing a rearrangement of its
internal molecular or microscopic structure, in which atoms are being
[a] Compounds with stronger bonds have a higher elastic modulus (stiffness)
than weak bonded compounds.
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moved to new equilibrium positions. This plasticity requires a

mechanism for molecular mobility, which in crystalline materials
can arise from dislocation motion. The PortevinLe Chatelier effect
(PLC) describes the serrated stress-strain curve or jerky flow, which some
materials exhibit as they undergo plastic deformation. In materials, the
motion of dislocations is a discontinuous process. When dislocation meets
obstacles (like forest dislocations) they are temporary arrested for a
certain time. During this time solutes (such as interstitial particles) diffuse
around the dislocations further strengthening the obstacles held on the
dislocations. Eventually these dislocations will overcome these obstacles
with sufficient stress and will quickly move to the next obstacle where
they are stopped and the process can repeat again.
Materials lacking this option of mobility, by having internal
microstructures that block dislocation motion, are usually brittle
rather than ductile. The stress-strain curve for brittle materials are
typically linear over their full range of strain, eventually terminating in
fracture without appreciable plastic flow.
Note that the stress needed to increase the strain beyond the proportional
limit in a ductile material continues to rise beyond the proportional limit;
the material requires an ever-increasing stress to continue straining, a
mechanism termed strain hardening.
It appears that the rate of strain hardening diminishes up to a point
labeled UTS, for Ultimate Tensile Strength. Beyond that point, the material
appears to strain soften, so that each increment of additional strain
requires a smaller stress.
The apparent change from strain hardening to strain softening is
an artifact of the plotting procedure, however, as is the maximum
observed in the curve at the UTS. Beyond the yield point, molecular flow
causes a substantial reduction in the specimen cross-sectional area A, so
the true stress t = P/A actually borne by the material is larger than the
engineering stress computed from the original cross-sectional area ( e =
P/A0). The load must equal the true stress times the actual area (P = tA),
and as long as strain hardening can increase t enough to compensate for
the reduced area A, the load and therefore the engineering stress will
continue to rise as the strain increases. Therefore the stress or the true
stress never actually decreases as shown in the engineering stress strain
diagram.
Eventually, however, the decrease in area due to flow becomes larger
than the increase in true stress due to strain hardening, and the load
begins to fall.

[a] Compounds with stronger bonds have a higher elastic modulus (stiffness)
than weak bonded compounds.
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Even though the UTS is perhaps the materials property most commonly
reported in tensile tests, it is not a direct measure of the material due to
the influence of geometry as discussed above, and should be used with
caution. The yield stress Y is usually preferred to the UTS in designing
with ductile metals, although the UTS is a valid design criterion for brittle
materials that do not exhibit these flow-induced reductions in crosssectional area.
The true stress is not quite uniform throughout the specimen, and there
will always be some location - perhaps a nick or some other defect at the
surface - where the local stress is maximum. Once the maximum in the
engineering curve has been reached, the localized flow at this site cannot
be compensated by further strain hardening, so the area there is reduced
further.
This increases the local stress even more, which accelerates the flow
further. This localized and increasing flow soon leads to a neck in the
gage length of the specimen such as that seen below.

Until the neck forms, the deformation is essentially uniform throughout

the specimen, but after necking all subsequent deformation takes place in
the neck. The neck becomes smaller and smaller, local true stress
increasing all the time, until the specimen fails. This will be the failure
mode for most ductile metals. As the neck shrinks, the non-uniform
geometry there alters the uniaxial stress state to a complex one
involving shear components as well as normal stresses. The
specimen often fails finally with a cup and cone geometry, as seen
below, in which the outer regions fail in shear and the interior in tension.

[a] Compounds with stronger bonds have a higher elastic modulus (stiffness)
than weak bonded compounds.
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Strain Hardening
It is observed in a variety of FCC and BCC substitutional and interstitial
alloys. FCC has more slip planes and consequently more ductile than BCC.
Lattice structure has imperfections called dislocations or line defects. They
provide a mechanism for the material to deform and undergo plastic
deformation. The dislocation moves along slip directions and slip planes.
If dislocation motion is favored, plastic deformation becomes easier. On
the other hand if these motions are blocked/ hindered the material
becomes harder to deform and thus strengthens.
When is the movement hindered?
[1] When there are a large no. of dislocations & the dislocations have
already moved as much as they can and further movement requires more
force. E.g. When Two like dislocations come close to each other they will
repel each other. And therefore it will difficult for movement of planes to
occur and thus strengthening the material.
[2] When a lot of interstitial atoms are present that hinder the movement
of dislocations.
Where do we want plastic deformation? E.g. for easier Cold Rolling of
sheets.
Ductile materials are easy to roll as they have dislocations presents that
facilitate plastic deformation. Also after rolling the rolled sheet will have
higher strength on account of strain hardening.
Where do we want strengthening? E.g. for strengthening a crank shaft
by Cold Forging.
When we work harden the material, what we gain in strength we lose in
ductility. So no doubt cold forged crankshafts will be stronger but they will
have limited scope for further ductility. There are many times more
dislocations per mm2 in cold worked metals than otherwise but they are all
hindered or entangled.
[a] Compounds with stronger bonds have a higher elastic modulus (stiffness)
than weak bonded compounds.
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Stress Strain Behaviors of different materials

Stress Strain Behaviors of Polymers

Figure above shows the characteristic stress-strain behavior for an

amorphous polymer. It is characterized by a linear elastic region, a
yielding followed by a drop in stress, a formation of a neck, a drawing of
the neck, an increase in stress due to straightening of polymer chain, and
finally fracture.
The elastic deformation in amorphous
(polymers is the result of two mechanisms.

()

and

semi-crystalline

Some examples of Semi-crystalline Polymers are: linear polyethylene

(PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or
isotactic polypropylene (PP))

[a] Compounds with stronger bonds have a higher elastic modulus (stiffness)
than weak bonded compounds.
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[1] An applied stress causes the covalent bonds within the amorphous
polymer chain to stretch and distort, allowing the chains to elongate
elastically. When the stress is removed, recovery from this distortion is
almost instantaneous. In addition, entire segments of the polymer chains
may be distorted. In this case when a stress is applied and removed, the
chains moves back to their original position but over a period of time.
(This time can range from a few seconds to a few months.)
Once the yield strength is exceeded the polymer deforms plastically.
Plastic deformation is the result of chains sliding, stretching, rotating, and
disentangling under load.
As seen in Figure, there is a drop in stress beyond the yield point. This is
because the initially tangled and intertwined chains become straight and
untangled. Once the chains are straighten, additional stress causes
necking, in which there is the continued sliding and deformation of the
chains.
Amorphous
In amorphous polymers continued necking causes the chains to become
closer together and almost parallel. At this point strong Van der Waals
bonding between the more closely aligned chains requires higher stress in
order to complete the deformation and fracture.

[a] Compounds with stronger bonds have a higher elastic modulus (stiffness)
than weak bonded compounds.
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On the basis of experimental investigations, the ultimate tensile strength

and yield strength are said to decrease with an increase in temperature,
except at a temperature of 250 C where these properties increase a little.

[a] Compounds with stronger bonds have a higher elastic modulus (stiffness)
than weak bonded compounds.
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The modulus of elasticity continuously decreases with an increase in

temperature. Also, from the engineering stress-strain diagram, it is visible
that strains at 300 C, 400 C, and 500 C are somewhat reduced in
comparison with the ones at higher temperatures.
Interstitial Free Steels (IF Steels)
The term Interstitial Free steel or IF steel refers to the fact, that there are
no interstitial solute atoms to strain the solid iron lattice, resulting in very
soft steel. IF steels have interstitial free body centered cubic (bcc) ferrite
matrix. These steels normally have low yield strength, high plastic strain
ratio (r-value), high strain rate sensitivity and good formability. In these
Steels, normally, the content of interstitial elements (C, N) is kept below
30 ppm.
The lack of interstitial atoms in the atomic structure enables IF steel to
have extremely high ductility, ideal for deep-drawn products. In fact, IF
steels are sometimes called extra deep drawing steels (EDDS). They have
relatively low strength (although they are sometimes strengthened by the
reintroduction of nitrogen or other elements), but high work hardening
rates and excellent formability.
These steels have high strain hardening potential during forming, lending
deep-drawn parts (like trunks, tailgates, doors, linings, wheel arches, etc.)
good dent resistance.
A work hardened material has lower ductility and higher resistance to
deformation. (Take a forged crankshaft for example.)

[a] Compounds with stronger bonds have a higher elastic modulus (stiffness)
than weak bonded compounds.
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